Notes on Episode 5 – James T. Kirk, Computerphobe

Okay, before I get into this I just wanna say one thing…I love Star Trek and this is meant to be a PARODY, so any of you Trekkies out there just get a grip on yourselves, unbunch your panties, and just enjoy the ride.

I have been a Trek fan for as long as I can remember, and I can thank my parents for that. They both were big science fiction fans, and I guess that I am the only one who picked up on it because of them. One of my father’s big passions was Star Trek, and all of us used to watch it with him. It was probably the only time that all of us could agree on one program that we could enjoy together. He even let us stay up late on Friday nights when NBC moved it to the Friday night death slot (10 pm.)

I guess that early exposure to science fiction in general fostered my attraction to computers and just having fun with them. So that is why I decided to do this little “love letter” to Star Trek. I haven’t seen the “reboot” of the franchise, but I will probably go out and buy the DVD when I have the chance (let’s hope that Walmart has the widescreen version in stock.)

The motivation for doing this? I have been watching Star Trek Remastered on cbs.com. I had seen a few of the remastered episodes on the local CW affiliate, but not as many as I wanted. So when I found out that they were in the HD Gallery, I started watching them. I naturally gravitated to the ones with computers and robots in the storyline, and I saw Kirk do battle with them. So naturally, I had to comment on them (in my own cranky bastard way.)

Now, I am not one of those obsessive Trek fans. I don’t have a set of Vulcan ears. I don’t have a custom made Next-Gen era uniform. I don’t have a bat'leth hanging on my wall. I do have a copy of the Klingon-English dictionary, and I have a shitload of Trek novels. But do I have an obsessive compulsive relationship with Trek? No. I enjoyed it for what it is, and that is entertainment. (Okay, I did go to a Star Trek convention in 1989, and I got autographed photos of John deLancie (Q) and William Campbell (The Squire of Gothos/Koloth.))

(DeLancie was pretty much a cold prick who was in it for the money, but William Campbell was very funny, charming, and liked the Trek fandom.)

So why did I do this? I really don’t fuckin’ know, and I don’t really fuckin’ care. I just felt like doing it.